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National integration and the Nigerian educationalsystemOlufunke M. SanusiAtlanta University

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Recommended CitationSanusi, Olufunke M., "National integration and the Nigerian educational system" (1990). ETD Collection for AUC Robert W. WoodruffLibrary. Paper 2106.

NATIONAL INTEGRATION AND THE NIGERIAN

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

A THESIS

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF ATLANTA UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR

THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS

BY

OLUFUNKE M. SANUSI

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

JULY 1990

ABSTRACT

POLITICAL SCIENCE

SANUSI, OLUFUNKE M. B.A., University of Ibadan, 1982

National Integration and the Nigerian Educational System

Advisor: Dr. Makidi Ku-Ntima

Thesis dated July, 1990.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the various

factors affecting national unity or integration in Nigeria.

The study sought to determine the extent to which education,

especially civil education, could help bring this about.

Through the use of documents, it was found that, not

only was the educational system inefficient, but it was also

deliberately neglected by both the colonialists as well as

the national elites.

However, this author suggests that to help promote and

achieve a government policy of national unity, there is an

urgent need for political re-orientation in the country.

This can only be achieved through an education that will

inculcate in students the positive values of democracy and

unity.

Dedication

To the memory of my mother, Mrs. Risikat Omoshalewa

Sanusi, who wanted so much for me to be educated. And thank

you Daddy for being ever supportive. Thank you God in

Christ Jesus for strength, endurance and perseverance.

Heartfelt gratitude to my family. Folake, my sister, thank

you for your emotional and moral support.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter

Page

I. INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW 1

II. A BRIEF HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

AND ITS IMPACT ON NIGERIAN POLITICAL

DEVELOPMENT 28

III. THE PERIOD OF SELF-DETERMINATION AND THE ROLE OF

EDUCATION IN THE NEW NATION .... 63

IV. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 84

BIBLIOGRAPHY 94

11

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE PAGE

1. DIFFERENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF WESTERN EDUCATION

IN SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN NIGERIA 36

2. ESTIMATED NUMBER OF NIGERIANS IN KEY OCCUPATIONAL

GROUPS IN EARLY 1920s AND EARLY 1950s 54

iii

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW

Like all other African countries, Nigeria is a product

of arbitrary boundaries drawn by the European colonialists

to resolve their own differences and solve individual

territorial and economic problems without any regard for the

interests and compatibility of the people in their

colonies. As a result, traditionally hostile people are

lumped together to make a nation state. Hence, in Nigeria

there are people with different socio-cultural backgrounds

and different ethnic and religious backgrounds.

One of the reasons for political instability in Nigeria

is believed to be the problem of ethnicity. Because of the

various ethnic groups with different social, cultural,

political and religious backgrounds, it has become almost

impossible to be truly integrated. What such theory seems

to overlook is the fact that welfare and social

responsibility, rather than individualism, and its ethnic

interpretation of an individual as his brother's keeper,

were common among all Nigerians. The precolonial people at

the time engaged in activities on communal basis, and this

made it possible for them to maintain bonds of kinship even

with those who were not part of their individual family

units. Consequently, good fortune or misfortune were borne

as a group rather than as individuals. There was very deep

kinship among members of the society and this governed all

social relationships binding the entire community.

The Europeans came with a so-called civilizing mission

which was a camouflage for their exploitative mission.

Educating some of the Africans was seen as a means of

achieving the clandestine mission. Africans were selected

to be educated in such a way that only those who could be

greatly useful to their mission of economic exploitation

were considered. As the economic ventures they engaged in

increased, so did the need for more educated Africans. In

addition to being taught how to read and write in order to

carry out clerical duties, strong emphasis was placed on

moral education and European culture, which helped prepare

the mind of the natives for subservience and exploitation.

^kwudiba Nnoli, Ethnic Politics in Nigeria (Enugu,Nigeria: Fourth Dimension Publishers, 1980), p. 108.

With the help of missionaries who were largely responsible

for educating the natives, the colonizers realised that once

the minds of the natives could be controlled, they could

be better managed. They realized that to ensure absolute

obedience, it was necessary to destroy the peoples'

identity. This they did by introducing and propagating

their theory of racial superiority. This was found to be

very effective in subjugating the natives for their

exploitative mission.

The government and commercial institutions funded the

building of more schools to serve their increasing needs for

local labor. They were however concentrated in commercial

areas so that the distribution of schools around the country

was not even. In pluralist societies it is expected that

the schools will assist in integrating sub-populations that

are fragmented by religious, linguistic, or ethnic

differences. But in the case of Nigeria, the opposite was

the case as the colonial schools and system of education

only helped to sharpen ethnic cleavages. For instance,

while western education was spreading like wild fire in the

south, the northerners were left in their traditional and

Islamic schools. The result is that the southerners were

4

"progressing" and occupying governmental positions, while

northerners because of their low or lack of education, were

left behind.

According to Lord Lugard, the high commissioner for

northern protectorate, the reason for this indifference

towards the development of western education in the area was

2

in "respect for culture and tradition". Does this imply

the southerners did not have traditions or culture worthy of

respect? Definitely the answer is no! The reality is that

the well-integrated Islamic religion and tradition already

in existence before their invasion was conducive to

effective economic exploitation of the area. Besides, the

south being close to the coast was easily penetrated by

European traders and Christian missionaries on evangelical

mission. In order to effectively exploit the area, Lugard

introduced a system of ruling through the chiefs, popularly

referred to as Indirect Rule. It was highly successful in

the north because the Emir was the absolute authority to

whom no defiance was tolerated or condoned. Therefore,

there was little or no resistance to the colonialist

Margery Perham, Lugard. the Years of Authority. 1898-

1945 (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1960), p. 268.

activities except in the area of western education which

they felt would threaten Islamic religion since it was

associated with Christian evangelism. Most of the people

that attended missionary and government schools were pagan

or animists in the northern society. Only a few Fulanis or

those of Islamic religion attended.

The indirect rule was later introduced to the south

when Lord Luqard became the governor-general at the

amalgamation of the two protectorates in 1914. But the

result was not the same as the south was not as integrated

as the north; the king or the Oba was not necessarily

absolute, he could be dethroned or impeached. There was no

central authority, especially in the southeastern part of

the protectorate where the colonial administration searched

unsuccessfully for local political representative. The

administration therefore appointed warrant chiefs who helped

collect taxes from the people. They became targets of

violent attacks by the people and a few who had received

education. The reaction was almost the same in the west.

Those Obas that co-operated with the administration lost the

respect and deity the people accorded them. The result was

a partial failure for indirect rule in the south and a

struggle for power among the educated elites who saw working

for the administration as a new source of power. They

looked forward to the time they would eventually take over

as promised by the colonialists. So, more people went to

school, as it gave them a source of economic power and

prestige among the people. The elites were convinced that

anything away from the white man's method was inferior.

Their efforts and thoughts were therefore directed towards

obtaining that type of western education and British

lifestyle. This they believed would release them from

ceaseless toil on the land and secure for them the price of

a job in the civil service or in a foreign-owned commercial

establishment.

The contents of the subjects, values or empirical

dimensions of reality taught did not have a direct relation

to their immediate environment. The teachers narrated the

subjects with little or no contribution from the students.

They were disconnected from the realities that engendered

them. This did not allow for critical appraisal or

consciousness to be developed in them. This was the

framework on which the colonial government's educational

policy was based and operated as an instrument of

national policy.

Having been taught to imitate the Englishman's mode and

style of living it was difficult for the elites to

critically evaluate the kind of education they were being

given. Rather, they agitated for an education as close to

that of the British as possible in order to cover up their

inferior racial consciousness. This they believed would put

them on equal level with the European, then they would be

qualified for self-government and put an end to the snobbish

treatment the British officials and residents had always

accorded them. As Lord Lugard, the then governor-general of

the country put it:

... I am somewhat baffled as to how to get in

touch with the educated native ... to start with.

I am not in sympathy with him. His loud and

arrogant conceit are distasteful to me; the l|ck

of natural dignity and courtesy antagonize me .

This sort of antagonistic relationship and the promise

of eventual self-rule spurred nationalist activities,

especially in the south where it was already in full swing

by the late 1920s. In fact, while the southerners were

being represented in the legislative council from 1923,

. Luaard. the Years of Authority, 1898-1945,

p. 390.

8

the northerners were not represented until 1945, which means

that they did not participate in legislative decisions on

Nigerian development for over twenty years. This was, of

course, due to their low education and perception of the

situation. Though the two protectorates were amalgamated in

1914, both remained different entities administratively,

with different policies. The population of the north was

twice that of the southern regions combined, giving

political power in terms of ballot to northerners. The

colonial government knew the inequalities in educational

opportunities, along with ethnic differences and

decentralized pattern of administration based on local units

would militate against strong and effective confrontation,

so they tried their best to keep it that way.

But the educated elites, tired of racial discrimina

tion against them by the British residents, were hungry for

power and sought to take over the colonial administration.

They did this by sensitizing the people against colonial

exploitation and oppression. This was the crucial issue of

their politics which involved them in a classic contradic

tion. They could not do without this ideology given their

politics which was very necessary for their aspiration to

overthrow colonialism and to come to power. At the same

time, they could not really afford to use the ideology

because it was ultimately incompatible with the relation of

4

production they wanted to maintain .

However, their agitations resulted into Nigeriani-

zation of the administrative cadres which immediately gene

rated rivalry for the command of the polity. Northern

politicians awoke to a belated recognition that the north's

educational lag would mean southern domination of federal

office in spite of the north's power at the polls, which

Northerners resented. Educational inequalities (with their

corresponding implications for individual and group

mobility) therefore became one of the major foci for

political conflict in both the pre- and post-independence

period. This inner weakness and the inability of the

Nigerian elite to draw up an effective political ideology

for the nation forced them to seek the support of their

ethnic groups at home and ex-colonial masters abroad in

order to maintain political power.

Claude Ake, Revolutionary Pressures in Africa (New

York: Zed Publications, 1984), p. 33.

10

By the early 1950s, the demand for schooling on both

lower and higher educational levels in the south in

particular, had outstripped the ability or willingness of

the colonial government to supply it. The Richards Constitu

tion of 1951 gave the local elites the opportunity to govern

themselves based on regional development, each region ruled

by the dominant political party of local ethnic groups.

Education was one of the major programs that legitimized the

regional governments to the masses. At this time, education

was seen by the elites as a means by which independence

could be attained rapidly while the masses saw it as a way

of improving their economic lot and political advancement.

Hence, the phenomenal bourgeoning in student enrollment

between 1950 and 1960.

Though the northern region tried to bridge the edu

cational gap, its percentage of new enrollment was still

lower than the two southern regions. For example, in the

late 1950s while other regions, east and west were imple

menting Free Universal Primary Education, the north was con

centrating on getting people to attend the schools. By the

time of independence in 1960, the primary school enrollment

amounted to two hundred and forty thousand (240,000) in the

11

north (though its population is twice that of the other two

regions combined) and two and half million (2,500,000) in

the south . This quantitative disparity coupled with the

stated fact that "Nigeria continues to recognize education

as a very powerful instrument for social change in a process

of dynamic nation building" explains the high priority that

6

education is enjoying in Nigeria's development plans. The

various educational policies of the regional governments are

evidence of the popular support education enjoys.

From the documents made public by the governments of

the three regions and the federal government, it is obvious

that more emphasis was on the development of needed manpower

to take over at the forthcoming independence than the

problem of national unity or integration. Even where the

concern for unity is stated as in the case of eastern region

ministry of education's documents, there is very little

evidence as to how this was carried out in the classrooms by

e

"The Nigerian Tragedy: An Educational Perspective,"an

essay reviewed in History of Education Quarterly (Summer

1970 ), p.257.

Third National Development Plan. 1975-80. Federal

Republic of Nigeria, published by the Central Planning

Office, Federal Ministry of Economic Development, p. 245.

12

the teachers or to appraise the commitment of the government

officials. The first federal educational policy was

patterned after the British system, a system which had no

relevance to Nigerian society and philosophy. The report of

the Ashby Commission of 1959, formed the framework for

federal educational policy at independence in October 1960.

It was the first of its kind in the sense that it was the

first time Nigerian educators were allowed to take part in

drawing up an education policy, though a majority of the

commission's members were British and American educators.

This way the colonialists were able to rule the country

indirectly as this gave them the chance to shape and

influence the future development of the country. It

encouraged the use of foreign teachers, advisors and super

visors, both British and American. It is not surprising

then that the policy emphasis was on manpower rather than

integration which would augur well for peaceful economic

development. The Ashby report has since been the backbone

of Nigerian education system. The attempt to effect its

recommendations are evident in the magnitude of financial

resources allocated in the first national development plan

1962-1968, though it ranked fifth on the priority list.

13

Much of the money, however, went to higher and adult educa

tion, but the northern region got a larger portion of it,

for its primary education program, based on its size and the

influence it exerts on the federal government. The reason

given for this was to correct the imbalance in educational

development between the north and the other regions. This

kind of action has always been a source of antagonism and

controversy between the regions; that is, the east and west

have always resented the preferential treatment the north

received both during the colonial period and after from the

colonialists. The problem this paper addresses is one of

national integration, and the inability of education as a

unifying force to bring this about in a country with various

ethnic groups.

Hypothesis

With the ruling elites acting as defenders of im

perialist interest and their self-interest, they used educa

tion as a divisive instrument, rather than as a means for

unifying the country.

The purpose of this study is to investigate, relative

to the concrete historical reality of Nigeria, at primary

14

and secondary school levels in particular, how education has

been directed towards unity needed for political stability,

in a country with wide cultural and political diversity.

Methodology

This study will be conducted by investigating the role

of education in the pursuit of national integration. The

extent to which socializing subjects taught in school and

the policies guiding them sensitize the citizenry will be

investigated.

The theoretical framework for this study is neo

colonialism, that is, the continuing domination, direct or

indirect, of the industrialized nations over the Third

World, including Nigeria. By adopting an educational system

based on British philosophy and structure of education for

industrialization, the ruling elites helped Britain to

maintain political influence over the country. The system

became dependent on western educational institutions for

books, texts, teachers and curriculum. This way, the elites

camouflaged their inability to draw up a system that fits

the need of the country.

15

To establish these claims, government policies as

documented by the ministry of education will be evaluated.

As this will show at least on paper the government's desire

to create a united Nigeria. The adequacy and efficiency of

the means to achieving these goals will be investigated.

For instance, Free Universal Primary Education was to aid in

eradicating illiteracy and enhance cross-cultural inte

gration on both regional and federal levels. The content of

the syllabi of, integrative subjects like history, econo

mics, geography and social studies will be analyzed.

The primary source for establishing these will be

document study. For example, D. L. Dubey, Rousseau, and

Fichte Johann all establish the importance of proper poli

tical socialization in any country. D. L. Dubey and

associates in The Sociology of Nigerian Education (1984)

stated precisely the role of education in nation-building,

pointing out that any philosophy of education derives from

the needs of the country concerned, and one of our needs in

Nigeria is Political stability. Nigeria, consisting of

different historical, geographical, social and religious

backgrounds, needs a powerful uniting force. The

educational system is the best instrument by which we can

16

achieve unity in diversity in this country. To build a

nation, stable and progressive, we need ethnic integration

in both vertical and horizontal dimensions. The support for

this concept is evident in the Third National Development

Plan 1975-80, with the stated fact that Nigeria continues to

recognize education as a very powerful instrument for social

change in a process of dynamic nation-building. James S.

Coleman's book, Nigeria: Background to Nationalism, is an

excellent source of tracing the roots, growth and

persistence of the problem. Particulary, it relates

effectively how Western education instigated nationalist

activities and eventual self-determination and

independence. Gazette's reports from Federal and Regional

Ministries of Education will be analyzed to show government

intent on educational policy and the results of their

proposed policies.

The steps to be taken in this regard will be (1) an

introduction to the problem with a brief history of the

evolution of the country, Nigeria; (2) the spread of edu

cation and how it was instrumental in the development of

political activities and nationalism that led to indepen

dence in 1960, (3) the role of education from the period of

17

self-determination (1951-1965), (4) a discussion of the

solution to the problem to show if any of the political

socialization agencies in the society could be utilized

effectively. The period under investigation is 1900-1965

because it was the period when the present political values

and attitudes were formed. It was also a period where the

elites could have made conscious efforts to unite the

various ethnic groups. Since the constitution placed all

pre-university education under local and state governments,

criticisms regarding the role of the schools in developing

national consciousness and unity would be limited to that

level. The assumption here is that this is the level at

which children develop attitudes and civic education could

be taught effectively.

Literature Review

Numerous studies conducted by scholars show that the

Europeans, whether they were missionaries or colonialists,

viewed Africans as mentally inferior. A vivid account of

the European perceptions of the Africans is presented by

Charles H. Lyons in "The Educable Africans: British

18

Thought and Action, 1835-1865," in Essays in History of

African Education, edited by Vincent M. Battle and Charles

N. Lyons. In the essay, Lyons pointed out how the Victorian

society of those days in Europe, especially in Britain, was

dominated by racist thought and intoxicated by cultural chau

vinism. The age was the climax of the bitter antagonism

that had been smoldering between Christianity and science.

The long drawn-out academic and verbal wrangling ended in

victory for the scientists.

The early Victorian science of man was strongly tinged

with racism; hence, its views of the educability of the

black man was not generally optimistic. Throughout

continental Europe, the view that the brain of the black

people was unlike that of the white man was so prevalent

that, even when they came up with contradictory evidence,

some scientists and physical anthropologists of the 1860s

felt obliged to qualify their findings in such a way as to

conform with the accepted theories.

Vincent M. Battle and and Charles H. Lyons, Essays

in History of African Education (Great Britain: Praeger

Publishers, 1948), p. 146.

19

The missionaries, on their own part, disagreed with the

scientists in theory; but in practice, evidence abounds that

educational programs for Africans manifested the prevailing

views of the metropolis. They believed that Africans were

more suited for manual labor than mental exercise.

Africans, they asserted, "hold labor only inferior to

death." Laziness was not something they simply learned

rather, like greediness, rascality and childishness, it was

a character trait peculiar to Africans. Thus, missionaries'

view of African laziness is both racism and cultural chau

vinism. However, it was more a manifestation of cultural

chauvinism than Protestant piety. Western culture, to many

missionaries, was superior, simply because the Europeans

worked harder.

With all these racial biases and cultural chauvinism,

it is not surprising that the educational apparati were

those designed for social and racial inferiors. Religious

instruction was to form the backbone for curriculum with the

agricultural training for boys and domestic science

education for girls making up the only other substantial

parts of the school program. Like British working class,

they were to be taught the "domestic and social studies of

20

the colored races" with respect to the European mother

country. Thus, the stage was set for a distorted percep

tion based on a distorted identification of the problem

resulting in a distorted solution. This deterministic

view of the capabilities of the African is conspicuously dis-

ernible in all missionary educational activities in Africa.

Therefore, the role of proper political socialization

in any country, Nigeria in particular, cannot be over

emphasized. Though the concept of political socialization

is a recent phenomenon in the dictionary of political

science, proper political education for the citizenry had

been a pre-occupation of the scholars for a long time.

In Plato's Republic. orientation of the citizens was

differently dubbed "citizenship training," "civic educa

tion," along with other antiquated terminologies like

"instruction," or "patriotism," "character training," which

are very prevalent in the writings of classical political

philosophers.

According to Plato, "when children have made a good

beginning - and - education has instilled a spirit of order,

this reverence for law - will attend therein all their

21

doings - restoring any institutions that may have easier

fallen into decay..,8

However, much of Plato's

attention was devoted to prescribing the proper training

patterns for various classes in his ideal state. Given

Plato's assumpions, small wonder he discusses education so

thoroughly. But it is also known that education without

proper political orientation will be a great loss.

As Fred Cyreanstein puts it:

No topic in political science has a longer and

more distinguished lineage than citizenship

training. For Plato, education was at the heart

of politics depending upon the nature of civil

training. A body politic would remain stable or

it would undergo change.

To Confucius, "Filial Piety" towards the elderly,

especially sentiments and respects towards their parents,

will in later life extend to men in positions of political

authority. Order in political life crucially depends on a

well-regulated family life, he contended.

8Plato, Republic. Translated by Francis MacDonald

Conford (New York: Oxford University Press, 1945), p. 56.

9

Lin Yutang, The Wisdom of Confucius (New York: Random

House, 1943), p. 19.

10Ibid., p.26

22

Sir Thomas Moore, in Utopia and Jean-Jacques Rous

seau, all contributed to literature in citizenship orien

tation and the importance of childhood socialization.

According to Sir Thomas

"teachers use very great endeavor and diligence

to put into the heads of their children while

they yet be tender and pliant, good opinions and

profitable for the conversation of their real

public. Which when they be once rooted in

children do remain with them all their life after

and be wondrously profitable for the defense and

maintenance of the state of the commonwealth, which

never decayeth, but through vices rising of evil

opinions."'

Rousseau in his own turn believes that the legislators

are required to indoctrinate political values continuously.

The citizens, he wrote:

... have equally a need for guidance.

(They) must be taught what is it they

will ... From this increase of public

knowledge would result ... harmony ...

due highest power of the whole, ...(and)

it is education that must give souls a

national formation, and direct their

opinions and tastes in such a way that

they will be patriotic by inclination,

by passion, by necessity.

Thomas Moore, Utopia. Translated by John C. Collins

(London: Clarendon Press, 1933) p.132.

12Rousseau, Social Contract, cited in Dean Jaros,

Socialization to Politics (New York: Praeger Publishers,

1973),p. 12.

23

Thus, Rousseau went down as one of the earliest advocates of

childhood indoctrination. This view still holds today. In

Social Issues in Public Education, edited by John A.

Bartley (1984), Johann Gotlieb Fichte argued that "the

purpose of education is to mold the people into a whole;

education should concern itself with the greatness of a

nation and minimize the importance of the individuals in

it." William 0. Stanley, in Education and Social

Integration further illuminates Fichte's precept when he

contended that:

Ultimately, the foundation of the state rests

upon the character of the citizens; and to mold

the character of the young, by the very nature

of the case, is to shape the ideals, the aspi

rations and the conceptions which underlie

social and political action. All education

therefore consciously or unconsciously implies

some social philosophy and promotes in effect,

if not in intent one political ideal rather

than another

The role of proper political socialization of citi

zenry for national integration in any given nation cannot be

over—emphasized. Nigeria is not an exception, in fact, this

13William 0. Stanley, Education and Social Integra

tion (New York: Teachers College, Columbia University Press,

1953), p. 23.

24

is evident throughout history. From its introduction

western education served different social and political

philosophies. For the missionaries it was an evangelical

tool, and in the hands of the British imperialists and

Nigerian elite, it was the decisive factor in the imple

mentation of indirect rule and self-government, respec

tively. The next chapter relates how this process of inter

action between social and political process was carried

out.

For instance, John Drewal's "Methodist Education in

Liberia, " Vincent M. Battle, "American Mission and

Educational Development in the Sudan, 1909-1929," Priscilla

Blakemore, "Assimilation and Association in French Educa

tional Policy and Practice," and Richard Heyman, "The

Initial Years of the Jeanes School in Kenya, 1924-1931," are

all drawn examples from different places in Africa, but they

are saying essentially the same thing. They provided

supportive evidences for Lyon's assertion that the main

concern of the missionaries of Europe and America was to

transform "darkest Africa" into an enlightened Africa, using

the powerful trinity of Christianity, civilization and com

merce. The semi-altruistic policy of the Christian mission

25

in education gave way to the enlightened self-interest of

the colonial masters. Far from the missionaries avowed aim

to train people with the aim of making Bibles, the colonial

Lord was only interested in educating the Africans insofar

as the beneficiaries from such education could provide

supportive manpower to satisfy his political and economic

interests.

However, the works of A. B. Fafunwa, History of

Education in Nigeria, and J. W. C. Dougall, The Development

of the Education of the African in Relation to Western

Contact, review the nature of informal education in

precolonial days. Their findings contradict the notion of

ignorance among Africans as publicized by the missionaries

and the colonialists. They asserted that Africa had complex

forms of education which served to pass on knowledge from

one generation to the next, to assist in solving problems,

and to act as a social integrating force. Society had

certain implied rules and regulations which bound it

together, and education of the youth was a cardinal point in

these rules.

26

The introduction of western education had negative

effects on this historical pattern. It failed to integrate

with and build upon indigenous forms and teachings; and its

message and objectives were entirely different. It destroyed

the people's pride in their traditional values. It also

taught them that the single road to escape from head taxes,

forced labor, the apprentice system, and so forth, and the

one path to good houses, the city and money was a certifi

cate in education. It was the sole means of breaking out of

the confinements of peasant life into the glorious existence

of the bourgeoisie. Thus, the education of the Africans was

elite-oriented. Hence, African products of the system

aspire towards elitism. The educated Africans became the

line between the colonialists and the masses. Since the

predominantly "respected" value under colonialism was the

alien European value, which is highly acquisitive,

the educated Africans embraced not only this acquisitive

ness, but also a wasteful conspicuous consumption. Thus,

Africans were socialized towards European value systems and

away from their own traditional value system. However, the

so-called opportunity did not extend equally to all scholars

of the African society. Colonialists and the missionaries

27

were only concerned with producing a large enough cadre of

Africans to facilitate the colonial administration.

J. F. A. Ajayi, in Christian Missions in Nigeria. 1801-

1804: The Making of an Elite. J. E. Adeboro, in Handbook of

Education in Nigeria, all provided evidences in support of

the already established thesis of how colonial education in

Nigeria is a misfit, as in all other African countries. In

addition, the colonial government in Nigeria pursued two

different educational policies in the northern and southern

parts of Nigeria. In Education and National Integration.

Alan Pashkin illustrates how the British colonial government

in Nigeria, rather than using education to forge national

unity, used it for the opposite. In pluralistic countries,

governments expect that the schools will assist integrating

sub-populations that are fragmented by religious, linguistic

or ethnic differences. However in reality, the colonial

schools were sharpening ethnic cleavages.

The significance of this study is that there is an

urgent need in Nigeria, especially in its present state of

political, social and economic conditions to evaluate poss

ible ways to normalize the situation. This author strongly

28

believes that proper political values and attributes through

education can play a major role.

CHAPTER TWO

A BRIEF HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA AND ITS

IMPACT ON NIGERIAN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

... To educate is to act, and to act involves both

preferences and consequences ....

Wi11iam 0. Stanley

The beginning of formal education in Nigeria can be

traced back to the period between 1841 and 1882, which was

marked by intensive missionary activity and expansion,

especially in southern Nigeria. It was first introduced by

Portuguese merchants who traded on the coast in 1492. They

depended on both force of arms and missionary endeavours to

facilitate peaceful trade relations with the Africans.

Through the influence of the Portuguese traders, the Roman

Catholic Mission became the first to set foot on Nigerian

soil. By 1852, many of the Christian missionaries were

firmly established in different parts of the colony. The

Church Missionary Society, the Methodist Mission Society,

the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the Qua-Ibo

Mission, to name a few, had already influenced the society

at this time.

29

30

The educational objectives of the Christian Missions

were mainly to teach the Bible, the plough, as well as to

develop local language and train evangelical leaders.

Indeed, the missionaries were evangelists first and educa

tionists second. As L.S. Stavrianos stated in his book,

Global Rift: Africa Enters The Third World.

The missionaries arrived with avowed purpose of

changing the African way of life, and they used

three principal instruments to reach their objec

tives, religion, medicine, and education.

They established two types of schools, the day school and

the boarding school. The day school curriculum comprised

mainly of reading English literature, writing, arithmetic

and singing. The boarding school was a feature of the

mission house. It brought the children under maximum

influence of the missionaries who were able to select the

best of them for special training and positions of

responsibility in the church. The children were taught

rL. S. Stavrianos, Global Rift: Africa Enters the

Third World (New York William Morrow and Co., Inc., 1981)p.294-299

C. 0. Taiwo, The Nigerian Education System. Past

Present and Future (Lagos, Nigeria: Thomas Nelson

Publishers, 1982), p. 8.

31 •

some gardening and small farming around the house, along

with the basics, i.e., reading, writing, and arithmetic.

The boarding school was maintained through donations from

friends of the missionaries, individuals and philanthropic

organizations. This system of schooling usually alienated

the students from their environment which their education

was supposed to serve, since all activities revolved around

the mission house. The missionaries had greater success in

the southern part of the country because of enthusiastic

reception of western education in the area. On the other

hand, the northerners were reluctant because they saw it as

a threat to their well-established Islamic education and

religion. This suspicious attitude to western education

was, of course, justified as education in those days tended

to mean Bible knowledge, Christian ethics, moral instruction

and English literature, all geared towards producing

Christians who could read and interpret the Bible. The

spread of education in the north therefore was slow and

gradual.

32

The missionaries had exclusive control over the schools

with no official education policy until 1900, when the

British government formally took over the colonies. This

marked the beginning of greater government interest and

participation in educational activities in the colony. The

annual report of 1902 formed the threshold of a new era of

expansion of government activities in education. Its

author, Dr. Reverend Henry Carr, the first African director

of education, summed up the present situation and speculated

about the future when he noted in his report that:

If public education is to make any progress

commensurate with the general advancement and

the Board of Education to firmly make up their

minds as to what objects the schools are to sub

serve and as to the best means of attaining

those objects, a really suitable and efficient

system of education which ought for this country

to be both literary and manual cannot be provided

under a voluntary system. It is to the government

and not the people themselves that we should

under existing circumstances look for the perfec

ting of what is nothing less thap a political

instrument of the highest value.

It was his belief that this would build an educated

democracy for the colony where the people will be able to

think for themselves, make decisions and choices according

Henry Carr, General Report for the Year 1902 on the

Schools in the Colony of Lagos, p. 4, paragraph 9.

33

to their own independent judgement. This proves that educa

tion as a tool for developing democratic political attitudes

was recognized from the beginning. However, the means by

which this was to be inculcated into the school's curriculum

or achieved was never clearly stated or discussed. Instead,

the government entrusted the program to the missionaries

whose main concern was to spread their religion. Therefore,

they turned out graduates who knew just the basics, reading,

writing and arithmetic and more importantly, could read and

interpret the Bible. This level of education was, of

course, adequate as far as the colonial government was

concerned, since the religious emphasis made the native more

honest and subservient. Their education fitted adequately

the role of clerks, policemen, bookkeepers that the

government wanted for them. Religious and moral education

which formed a larger part of their learning was to teach

them respect and reverence for their teachers and masters.

Besides, the emphasis on moral education was based on the

European conception that the average native is dishonest and

dubious. This made it impossible for the student to be

34

critical of the teacher. In fact, as Paul Freire well noted

in his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

... the form of teaching is an act of depositing in

which the students are depositories and the teacher

is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the te

acher issues communiques and makes deposits which

they patiently receive, memorize, and repeat. This

is the banking concept of education.

In effect, the graduates of these schools were less

critical of the colonial government atrocities as well.

This may account for why nationalist activities were

delayed and low-keyed until after the second world war,

since they were trained ne^er to disobey or even disagree

with anyone with authority. However, the success of

appeals and prompting such as was led by Reverend Henry

Carr promoted the zeal for education, which in the hands of

the next generation became a "political instrument" in

achieving self-government in Nigeria and sustaining it.

To validate the colonial government's commitment to

education, it enacted an expansion policy that introduced

and led to the establishment of government-assisted

schools. Most of these schools served to bridge the gap

Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New York:

The Seabury Press, 1970;, p. 38.

35

between Christian and Muslim children of school age.

Enrollment tripled, especially in the southern protectorate

from 639 primary school students in 1905 to 4,571 in 1909.

The number of government-assisted schools also increased

from 20 in 1905 to 90 by 1912. Expansion also took place

in the number and enrollment in non-assisted schools run by

the missions and a few adventure schools owned by private

individuals. By 1912, there were 59 private primary

schools and 99 government primary schools and 91 mission

schools aided by the government.

As can be seen from table 1, there is considerable

disparity between north and south, educationally. Much of

this can be blamed on the education policies of the colo

nial government, especially those of Lord Frederick Lugard,

who was the high commissioner of the northern protectorate

from 1900-1912. His declared policy on education was the

restriction of Christian education and evangelism in the

area. His reason for this was that they preached the

equality of Europeans and natives, which, however true from

doctrinal point of view, is apt to be mis-applied by people

in a low stage of development, and interpreted as abolition

of class distinction.

36

TABLE 1

DIFFERENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF WESTERN EDUCATION INSOUTHERN AND NORTHERN NIGERIA

Southern Nigeria

(Eastern and Western regions]

"Number unknown. LFlgures include 30,602 people attending ninety-four secondary'modern schools where post-primary instruction is given for three additional yearsfor pupils who either are academically not up to the standards of full secondaryschools or who cannot afford the higher fees. Figure for 1956.

Source: Annual Report, Colony of Southern Nigeria, 1906, pp. 199 ff- AnnualBSfiPxts, Northern Nigeria, 1900-1911; African Education (Oxford: Nuffield Station1953) PP. 47-48; letters to the author from the Ministry of Education in each ofthe three reg1Ons of Nigeria, Feburary-March, 1958. Cited 1n J.S. Coleman,Background to Nationalism (Berkley, Los Angeles: University of California Press1958) pp. 140. •'

37

In the annual report of 1905-1906, he stated his

four-point plan as:

1. Mai lams should be taught the Roman character

for writing Hausa, colloquial English arithmetic

and geography.

2. A school or college for the sons of chiefs should

be established where the pupils would be boarders

and would receive a primary education and be so

trained in the virtues of patriotism, honesty,

loyalty, etc., that they would become enlightened

rulers. They were not to imbibe such western

ideas as would cause them to lose the respect of

their subjects, nor should they necessarily forgo

their religion.

3. Secular general primary schools should be

established throughout the protectorate.

4. Cantonment schools for the education of children

of clerks and other government officials should be

set up, so that coastal clerks need no longer send

their children away for education, a practice

which deterred clerks from applying for work in

Northern protectorate.

From this it was obvious that Lord Lugard wanted loyal

emirs, educated local officials and contented clerks. Lord

Lugard trusted the implementation to his friend, Dr.

Miller, a former Church Missionary Society (CMS) employee.

But his over-zealousness in evangelizing the natives led to

his dismissal.

Sonia F. Graham, Government and Mission Education in

Northern Nigeria. 1900-1912 (I.U.P., 1966), p. 26.

38

With the amalgamation of both protectorates in 1914,

Lord Lugard became the governor—general and commander—in-

chief of the colony of Nigeria. His interest and plans for

education remained the same. Indeed, he saw it as an im

portant instrument of government administration.

Therefore, he tried passionately to control educational

growth and quality. To this end, Lugard wanted Nigerians

"not to be so poorly trained that they could not meet the

educational standards set for employment in either the

modern British or the 'traditional' African bureaucracy nor

should they be so highly trained that they threatened to

take over the responsibilities of British officials or

native authorities." So that Nigerians would have

education not exactly that of the British and at the same

time not relevant to their immediate environmental needs,

but just good enough to meet the needs of the colonial

government.

Though the two protectorates were merged, their

educational systems maintained their autonomy. In the

north, Lugard appointed Dr. Reverend Hahns Vischer,

General Report for the year 1902 on the Schools in

the Colony of Lagos, p. 4, paragraph 9.

39

a former CMS employee in northern Nigeria as the director

of education in the protectorate in 1914. He opened a

boarding school for the sons of chiefs and trained mallams

to assist in teaching to avoid having to employ qualified

southerners or foreigners. The basic curriculum of the

schools was secular, including English, Hausa, arithmetic,

reading, writing, drawing, nature study, and geography of

northern protectorate. Boys were introduced to cultiva

tion of crops, while girls learned sewing crafts and home

economics. Lugard was convinced that this system of educa

tion would ensure the staunch support of the Mohammedan

educated class for the British rule and would prevent

fanatical outbreaks in the future. Future events proved he

was right, especially in the era of self-determination and

self-government.

In the south, Lugard's approach was different because

at the time the missionaries controlled more than half the

number of schools in the area. In fact, at amalgamation,

the southern protectorate had a 35,716 primary school

population compared with the north's 1,131. It had also

eleven secondary schools while the north had none. In

order to carry out his educational objectives in the area,

40

he proposed a non-sectarian curriculum in the schools,

especially those in non-Muslim areas. To counter the

influence of the missionaries, he proposed the

establishment of village schools in the rural areas all

over the protectorate where only the three Rs would be

taught up to class III, including the cultivation of cash

crops, crop rotation, manufacturing and marketing

agricultural products. Exceptionally bright students were

to be awarded scholarships to study in the urban centres or

to pursue higher education abroad. The rural schools were

to concentrate on agricultural education while the urban

schools, i.e., those located in commercial centers

concentrated on literary education to provide the badly

needed clerks in the government establishments. The

proposal was adopted in 1916, in consultation with the

Christian missions and government officials. To make sure

his objectives were being carried out, school inspection

was introduced which determined the amount of grants the

schools were awarded. The schools were assessed as

follows:

1. Discipline, organization, moral instruction

and general tone of the school - 30 percent.

41

2. Adequacy and efficiency of the teaching staff-

20 percent.

3. Periodical examination and general progress -

40 percent.

This helps to illuminate the real educational objective of

the colonial administration. For instance, when one takes

into consideration the emphasis given to items one and

three, it is obvious the government wants obedient and dog

matic clerks. It also points out their low interest in

quality education. By the end of Lugard's rule in 1919,

not much of his objectives were achieved because of British

involvement in the first world war. The programs had to be

halted. But the colony was left with two major problems

that still plague Nigerian education system in recent

years. They are:

1. Uneven distribution of schools in southern

and northern Nigeria.

2. The educational gap between northern and

southern Nigeria due to geographical and

religious problems.

Also, during this time, a lot of Nigerians who studied

A. Babs, Fafunwa, History of Education in Nigeria

(London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1974), p. 111.

3

Ibid., p. 110.

42

abroad had returned home and started to challenge the

colonial government's policies on education in particular.

They complained about the emphasis placed on character-

training and questioned the slow pace of educational

development in the north, arguing that such a system was

not progressive and did not anticipate social change. They

demanded instead western education based on African

background and traditions, which should at the same time

equip them for the professions, commercial business and

effective participation in the government of their

country. These demands seemed to instigate more

determination on the part of the government to control

educational growth and curriculum. In fact, Lugard was

quoted to have said of the Nigerian elite that "Education

seems to have produced discontent, impatience of any

control and unjustifiable assumption of self importance in

g

the individual." Like most British officials did, he

often states the British colonial policy on the issue of

the Nigerian intelligentsia that:

It is the cardinal principle of British colonial

policy that the interests of a large population

Ibid., p. 110.

43

shall not be subjected to the will either of a

small minority of educated and Europeanized

natives who have nothing in common with them,

and whose interests are often opposed to others.

This policy was often used to delay taking a positive step

towards self-government and independence in the colony. It

is not surprising how they arrived at this notion since

most educated Nigerians were domiciled in urban areas or

port towns, particularly Lagos. It was often used to

verify the claim that an educated-illiterate cleavage

exists, therefore the elites were unrepresentative of the

Nigerian masses. However, they forgot to mention the fact

that the Nigerian elite had been taught in school to

imitate the English gentlemen and would want the same

things as the white man. The antagonism by the white

community, and especially the officialdom, toward educated

Nigerians became more pronounced when they realized that

not only were the elites the source of political agitation,

but also that they aspired to greater participation in

government with the ultimate aim of displacing the white

Sir F. D. Lugard, Report on the Amalgamation of

Northern and Southern Nigeria and Administration 1912-1919,

(N.D. 469 HMSO 1920), p. 60

44

administration.

The Lugard administration was succeeded by Sir Hugh

Clifford who continued with Lugard's policies regarding

education as well as his attitude towards educated

Nigerians. Much of his administration was preoccupied with

controlling growth of unsupervised private schools which he

blamed for the poor quality of education in the colony

generally. With the help of the report on education in

Africa in 1922 by Phelps-Stokes Commission, an American

philanthropic organization interested in African religious

and educational affairs, his administration was able to

draw up new ordinances for the north and south provinces in

1926. The aim of the commission was to see whether the

students are in touch with the actual development of the

country. They found that there was no clear cut objective

for African education and that its absence made

1 2organization ineffective. This forced the British

colonial government to do something to demonstrate a

J.S. Coleman, Nigeria: Background to Nationalism

(California: 1958), p. 39.

12C. 0. Taiwo, The Nigerian Education System. Past.

Present and Future (Ikeja, Lagos: Thomas Nelson (Nig.) Publishers, 1980), p. 65.

45

positive interest in African education, hence the first

educational policy in 1926. The report was a major step in

educational advancement in the colony. It set the base for

the pyramid which later emerged by making possible the

attempt to bring the different patterns of education into a

system, broadening the curriculum and providing for

different institutions in the system. Many of its

recommendations are still valid and relevant to the

Nigerian situation. For instance, the principle of adapta-

1 3tion is yet to be adequately applied. Considerable parts

of the education system are still dependent on foreign

assistance and influence. The 1926 code or policy was

specifically to curb the mushroom development of unassisted

schools by the missions and private individuals, especially

in southern Nigeria. The reason for this uncontrolled

growth was that education had come to mean a source of good

employment and standard of living. It was perhaps during

this period that the idea of bread and butter education

became firmly entrenched in the minds of parents,

Ibid., .p. 142.

46

1 4guardians and pupils alike. In 1929, the education

departments of north and south provinces were merged, with

a new director of education, Mr. E. R. J. Hussey, who held

the position until 1936.

The period from 1930 to 1950 brought a lot of changes

in the colonial administration. The devastating effects of

the depression and the Second World War on the British

economy made it vulnerable to the charge that it was

keeping Africans down. Being acutely aware of the strong

desire of the unsophisticated masses for education, the

educated Nigerians seized this opportunity to agitate for

higher education. They believed that western education,

and especially knowledge of English language would equip

them with the techniques and skills essential for the

improvement of personal status in the emergent economic and

social structure. It was the articulation of this

grievance which helped to link the educated Nigerian to his

unsophisticated but emancipated countrymen. The result was

A. Bab Fafunwa, History of Education in Nigeria

(London: George Allen and Unwin, 1974), p. 156.

1 5Kenneth W. J. Post, Modern Education and Politics in

Nigeria, ed., Hans W. Weiler (Freiberg, Germany: Verla

Rombach Co., Publisher, 1964), p. 141.

47

an end to the opposition by the officialdom, to higher

education. This led to the establishment of the Yaba

Higher College (Yaba College of Technology), a vocational

training school in 1934.

The school offered curricula in medicine, agricul

ture, engineering and teacher training. The aim of the

school was to attain eventually, the standard of a British

university. The same policy was applied at Ibadan

University (now University of Ibadan), established in 1948

since each college was to have the closest possible contact

with a British university. The Elliot Commission of 1943

that recommended the establishment of the university also

suggested the introduction of arts and science faculty,

schools of agriculture, forestry, veterinary science, medi-

cine, education, and many others. Thus, in 1948 the

British pattern of higher education with all its strength

and weaknesses was adopted in Nigeria. The universities of

London and Cambridge served as models so as to ensure that

the British academic "gold standard" was not debased.

l6C. 0. Taiwo, Nigerian Education System: Past.

Present and Future (Lagos, Nigeria: Thomas Nelson (Nig.)

Ltd., 1980), p. 94.

48

The inter-university council guarded jealously the curri

culum, the recruitment of staff and the question of recog

nition of local diplomas and certificates. This was how

the whole Nigerian education system became a tool in the

hands of imperialists, through which they continue to

dominate and influence Nigerian life.

To further endear themselves to the masses, the

Nigerian elites set up self-help programs and organizations

like tribal unions, through which they award scholarships

to needy students. This course was championed by Yoruba

elites like Dr. Nathanial King, Herbert Macaulay, Bishop

Sapara Williams and many others. They were later joined by

the Ibibios who sponsored twelve nen from their tribe for

higher education abroad. The Ibos soon followed suit, in

fact, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe single-handedly sponsored and or

encouraged another group of students to the United States.

Dr. Mbadiwe and others helped students to gain admission to

American universities along with private scholarships.

Thus, the years 1930 to 1950 witnessed intensive

competition for higher education by diverse groups and

49

individuals, particularly in the south.

But, more significantly, it was a period of high

militant nationalism by the elites, comprising largely

those who had studied abroad in Great Britain and the

United States of America, in particilar. They had been

exposed to the white man's wants and all were influenced

by Black activists like W. E. B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, and

many others. Their influence formed the basis for the

racial nature of the political thinking of Nigerian

nationalists like Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe. As a Nigerian

historian observed, the driving force of nationalism in

Nigeria was not loyalty to Nigeria as such, but racial

1 8consciousness as Africans. At the same time, there were

educated Nigerians who felt it was necessary to recapture

the past glories of particular tribes, that is, promoting

tribal nationalism. For instance, Samuel Johnson's History

of the Yorubas (C.M.S. (Nigeria) Bookshop, Lagos, 1966) was

Fafunwa, History of Education in Nigeria, p. 124

18J. F. Ade Ajayi, "Nineteenth Century Origins of

Nigerians Nationalism," Journal of the Historical Society

of Nigeria, vol. II, no. 2 (December 1961):196, 209.

50

one of the earliest books by a Nigerian on tribal customs

and history. Many of these books implied that the tribe

was the natural political community for the future as it

had been in the past. Thus, Akiga, an educated Tiv, told

his Tiv brothers of the new generation that can read "...

(to read this book) and tell others, who cannot, of the

things of our ancestors. And reminded them that however

great your knowledge may be, remember that you are a Tiv,

always remain a Tiv and know the things of Tiv, for therein

• ^ »19lies your pride.

Nevertheless, the elites were able to organize them

selves into political parties. The first was formed in

1921 by Herbert Macaulay, called the Nigerian National Demo

cratic Party (N.N.D.P.). Its main aim was to contest and

win seats in the legislative council which was controlled

by the colonial administration at the time. In 1934, those

who felt there should be radical representation formed the

Lagos Youth Movement. It changed its name to Nigerian

Akiga, Akiga's Story, translated by Rupert East

(London: Oxford University Press, 1939), op. 2-4, quoted in

Thomas Hodgin's Nigerian Perspectives: A Historical

Anthology, Op. cit., p. 328.

51

Youth Movement (N.Y.M.) in 1936. By 1938, it had

challenged and ended the fifteen-year rule of the N.N.D.P.,

particularly in Lagos where most of its activity was

centered. It aimed at the unification of Nigerian tribes.

Most of its members were southerners who had studied abroad

like Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe and Mr. Obafemi Awolowo, who became

the fore-runners of Nigerian politics. Azikwe later became

a member of the executive council, a position he resigned

in 1939 for business reasons. It was reported that the

reason was because the NYM supported and subscribed to

the Daily Service Newspaper, edited by Ernest Ikoli, a mid-

westerner in competition with Azikwe's West African

«•-, ^ 20Pi lot.

In 1941, the NYM was permanently split. The occasion

was a contest within the NYM for a vacant seat on the

legislative council. The contestants were Ernest Ikoli, an

Ijaw, and Samuel Akinsanya, an Ijebu Yoruba. Ikoli won the

nomination. Because of this, Azikwe, along with the Ibos

and some Ijebu Yorubas who supported Akinsanya, left the

NYM. They claimed that he was not nominated because he was

Frederick A.O. Schwartz, Jr., Nigeria (Cambridge,

MA: MIT Press, 1965), p. 61.

52

an Ijebu Yoruba. This was how tribalism came to the fore

of Nigerian politics. The NYM was left with an almost

Yoruba membership with Obafemi Awolowo, an Ijebu Yoruba as

its leader. In order to coordinate their activities,

Azikwe and his friends, along with the Nigerian union of

students, formed the Nigerian National Council in 1944.

The name was later changed to National Council of Nigeria

and the Cameroons (N.C.N.C.) under the leadership of

Herbert Macaulay with Azikwe as general secretary. Their

resolution was to "work in unity for realization of our

ultimate goal of self-government within the British

,.21empire.

The Richards Constitution imposed on Nigeria in 1945

was named after its author, Sir Arthur Richards, the govern

or of Nigeria at that time. The constitution divided the

colony into three regions which were coterminous with three

large ethnic groups: east (Ibo), west (Yoruba), north

(Hausa-Fulani). Each had its own regional assembly made up

of civil servants and non-officials. It also made provi

sions for native administrators who had the power to choose

African Pilot. August 28, 1944 and June 28,

1944.

53

their representatives to the legislative council. The

regional governor and his officials were British and had

the power to choose non-officials. For the first time,

northerners became members of the legislative council in

1947. That means, they had not been included since 1922,

when Africans were represented in the legislative council,

missing twenty-five crucial years in Nigeria's development.

The legislative council and the regional houses were merely

forums for discussion. Nigerians did not have any

executive power. The native authorities, the instruments

of Indirect Rule were given the crucial role of selecting

from their ranks members of the legislative council. Only

Lagos and Calabar retained the colony, i.e., they had

separate governments that existed before the establishment

of the protectorates. Though, there were qualified

educated Nigerians, they were virtually excluded from

meaningful roles in the central government. Table 2. shows

an estimation of Nigerians in high occupational groups at

the time.

The Richards Constitution was greeted with almost

universal disapproval by Nigerian nationalists. They

criticized the government for the continuation of the

54

TABLE 2

ESTIMATED NUMBER OF NIGERIAN IN KEY OCCUPATIONAL

GROUPS IN EARLY 1920s AND EARLY 1950s

Occupation Early 1920s Early 1950s

Barristers

Physicians

15 12 Yorubas 150*

3 Native foreigners

12

Teacher and Clerks

8 Yorubas 76 Yorubas

4 Native foreigners 160 48 Ibos

1 Hausa-

Fulani

34 Others

21,000 70,000

Artisians and skilled

laborers 8,000 80,000

a

Ethnic breakdown not available.

Source: Figures calculated from P. Amaury Talbot,

The Peoples of Southern Nigeria (London: 1926), vol. IV;

C.K. Mee, The Northern Tribes of Nigeria (London: 1925);

Nigerian Gazette, col. 40, no. 10 (January 26, 1953), pp.

170-176; Annual Report, Department of Labour, 1951-1952

(Lagos: Government Printer, 1953), pp. 37-39. Cited in

J.S. Coleman, Nigeria: Background to Nationalism, p. 141.

55

Indirect Rule system which they said was retrogressive and

against social change. They argued that the system

perpetuates their backwardness by preserving their tribal

divisions. The non-radical role of the traditional rulers

towards the white man, more than anything provoked the race

conscious educated Nigerians into uncompromising hostility

to the whole system of Indirect Rule. The constitution

only confirmed the allegation that the traditional rulers

were agents of imperialism.

Based on the Lugardian policy of channeling Nigerian

energies and power through the native authority, the

British government argued that the educated Nigerian was

not qualified to hold political power or responsibility

even under favorable conditions. This kind of trivial

excuse only accelerated militant nationalism against the

colonial administration. In 1946, the N.C.N.C, led by

Herbert Macaulay and Azikwe, took to the roads to protest

the Richards Constitution all over the country. It was

during this tour that Herbert Macaulay died and Azikwe

became the president of the party. At his funeral, Azikwe

reiterated the party's commitment to the unity of Africa

rather than that of Nigeria. In fact, by 1948, Nigerian

56

politics had become actively tribalistic. The N.C.N.C. was

merged with the Ibo Union, which used to be a cultural

organization, under the leadership of Azikwe. The party

was challenged by the Action Group, a party that favored

the trial of the Richards Constitution. The political

party consisted of former off-shoot members of the N.Y.M

and a Yoruba cultural organization called Egbe Omo

Oduduwa. Its leader, Obafemi Awolowo, an ex-executive

member of the NYM formed the Action Group in 1951. The

group's resolution was to "unite" the various clans and

tribes in Yorubaland and to accelerate the emergence of a

virile, modernized and efficient Yoruba state with its own

22individuality in the federal State of Nigeria. On the

unity of Nigeria, the party resolved to cooperate with

other ethnic groups in order to attain unity in

federation. The most significant difference from the

N.C.N.C. was that the Action Group was a regional party

seeking only to capture power in the rich western region.

Constitution of the Egbe Omo Oduduwa, quoted in

Frederick Schwartz, Jr.'s, Nigeria (Cambridge, MA: MIT

Press, 1965), p. 70.

57

Until 1948, when governor John MacPherson succeeded

Governor Richards and his ineffective constitution, poli

tical activities were limited to the south. One could say

that the introduction of the MacPherson constitution, which

was not operative until 1951, woke the north from its poli

tical slumber. This constitution provided for democratic

election to the regional houses of assembly, empowered each

region to raise and appropriate funds, and more import

antly, had power to pass laws on education, health,

23agriculture and local government. In order to prevent

southern domination, the Northern Peoples Congress was

formed in 1949, a former cultural organization turned poli

tical. Like the south, the party was formed by educated

northerners like Dr. Dikko, Tafawa Balewa, Yahaya Gusau,

Aminu Kano and many others. They were the vanguard of

political activities at least for a while. But the great

strength of traditionalism and older men in the north was

apparent from the onset. The N.P.C. leaders were careful to

say that they would not usurp the authority of traditional

Op Cit., Fafunwa, History of Education (London:

Allen and Unwin Limited, 1974), p. 167.

58

rulers. Instead, their ultimate aim was to enhance

traditional authority and help them in the proper discharge

of their duties. They also pledged to help enlighten the

peasants. The hegemony of the N.P.C. was challenged by the

Northern Elements Progressive Union (N.E.P.U.) in 1950; its

leader Aminu Kano felt the north needed a more radical poli

tical outlook and criticized the power of the native autho

rities. The party saw a class struggle, supported the

depressed peasant class, the talakawa, and therefore stated

it was diametrically opposed to the interest of all

sections of the master class and hostile to the party of

24the oppressors. The difference between the parties was

that N.P.C. sought regional power while N.E.P.U. tried a

national outlook by forming an alliance with N.C.N.C. in

the south. The effectiveness of the power behind the

influence of the native authorities crippled the success of

N.E.P.U. They did this by not appointing any member of the

party to the twenty-member electoral college in the area.

In this way, the success of N.P.C. in the north was

assured.

2%

Schwartz, quoted in Report on the Kano

Disturbances, Op Cit., p. 45.

59

In the south, power struggle and tribalism reached

fever point. The N.C.N.C. and Action Group were already at

each others throat, especially in Lagos, where both parties

had strong footholds. The mobilization of groups both in

terms of ethnic loyalty and voluntary association took more

or less a regional character. B. Nkemdirin observed that

these groups once mobilized were ready to support their

respective leaders in their contention for power and were

ready to risk damage or injury, thus to participate in

violence during the testing processes of membership into

25the polity by the chief contenders for power. During the

campaign for elections, the Action Group leader, Obafemi

Awolowo, referred to Azikwe as the "Archdevil" and promised

the Yorubas, the "Big Tomorrow" when they will lead the

country. And in a speech addressing the Ibo Union, Azikwe

was quoted to have said that:

... the god of Africa has specially created the

Ibo nation to lead the children of Africa from

the bondage of the ages .... The martial powers

of the Ibo nation at all stages of human history

has enabled them not only to conquer others, but

23

B. Nkemdirim, Social Change and Political Violence

in Colonial Nigeria (Elms Court, England: Arthur

Stockwel1.Limited, 1975), p. 48.

60

also to adapt themselves to the role of preserver

The Ibo nation cannot shirk its

responsibi1ity.

Here he linked the destinies of Africans and the Ibo tribe.

To this, Awolowo replied that it seemed clear to me that

Azikwe's policy was to corrode the self respect of the

Yoruba people as a group, to build up the Ibo as a master

27race. This sort of politics was very common in

Nigeria's political development. Though they disagreed on

who will control the south, they all agreed that the

colonial government was the enemy, and they needed to get

rid of the imperialist. The northerners, already a

conservative force Nigerian politics, did not want the

British to leave because of their fear of southern

domination. In fact, they threatened to secede if the

British should leave at that time. Moreover, they resented

southerners and yet felt superior to them. This attitude

made it difficult for them to work in harmony with

southerners, especially on the issue of when the country

should become independent. The northerners stalled the

2oWest African Pilot. July 6, 1949.

27The Daily Service Newspaper, July 13, 1949.

61

issue until they were ready in 1957. Though the north was

twice the south combined in size and population, their

educational backwardness did not give them political

confidence. But with the help and support of the British

officials, the north had political power in terms of

election ballots. Their position was further secured at

the constitutional conference in Ibadan in 1950. The

conference was held to review the 1951 constitution, with a

view of finding a way to maintain unity in Nigeria. The

drafting committee's chief promise and most significant

recommendation was that Nigeria adopt a federal system,

with three regions, the north, east and west. It stated:

In a country of the size of Nigeria, with its

diversities of history, race, tradition and

religion, the real unity will not ... be

achieved by attempting to concentrate all power

at the centre, but rather by further decentrali

zation of authority to the regions.

At the conference, they all agreed to operate a

federal system, but east and west objected to the north

having one-half of the seats in the central house of repre

sentatives. The north was also able to acquire for itself

Report of the Drafting Committee on the

Constitution. Lagos, 1950 (Lagos: Government Printers,

1950), p. 16.

62

tax revenue based on per capita basis rather than deriva

tion which would have given them less than half. The com

mission overlooked the opposition of western region to the

undefined boundaries between west and north. The decision

to redraw the boundaries was left to the governor who event

ually decided against a revision. The resolution that only

northern males could vote or contest for a seat in the

region was opposed by easterners as this automatically dis

enfranchise southerns there. On the question of the future

role of Emirs and chiefs - the symbols of continued ethnic

separation as well as of the traditional order - the east

erners took the most radical position and northerners the

29conservative. In fact, the Sarduana of Sokoto Sir Ahmadu

Bello, was quoted to have replied for the north saying:

If my friend can live for centuries, be might still

see the natural rulers in the North.

However, it is important to note that delegates to the gene

ral conference were selected in a way that a higher number

of conservative members than was representative of

Proceedings of the General Conference of the

CConstitution held at Ibadan, January 1950. (Government

Printers, Lagos 1950 ) p. 218.

30Op Cit., Ibid., p. 142.

63

nationalist sentiments were chosen. At the end of the

elections held in 1951, three major parties ruled the

regions, each coterminous with its major tribe. The

N.C.N.C. (east) led by Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe; the Action Group

(west) led by Mr. Obafemi Awolowo; and the N.P.C. (north)

31led by the Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello.

The three major political parties, the N.C.N.C,

the A.G, and the N.P.C. played a major role in Nigeria

until 1966, when military coup d'etat suspended all

political activities. They severally and collectively

injected both nationalism and tribalism into the Nigerian

body politic. Aside from tribalism and regional politics,

they contributed substantially to the growth of education

in Nigeria between 1950 and 1965.

Alan Peshkin, "Education and National Nigerian

Integration in Nigeria," Journal of African Studies 5, 3

(1967):323-34.

CHAPTER THREE

THE PERIOD OF SELF-DETERMINATION AND THE

ROLE OF EDUCATION IN THE NEW NATION

Being a form of social action ....

Education ... is rooted in some cul

ture and expresses the philosophy and

recognized needs of that culture.

The period 1950 through 1960 will probably go down as

the tempestous political era in Nigerian history. The

handing over of power by the British colonial administra

tion to Nigerians proceeded more rapidly during this decade

than in all the years that preceded it. The MacPherson

Constitution gave the regions more autonomy, having

jurisdiction over health, agriculture and education in

particular. The revision of the constitution in 1954 led

to a new one called the Lyttleton Constitution, that set a

pattern towards further decentralization and regionaliza-

tion of the country. The revision was necessitated as a

result of a resolution moved in the house of

Woodrow Wilson, The New Freedom (New York: Double-

day, Page and Company, 1914), pp. 6-7.

64

65

representatives by Chief Anthony Enahoro of Action Group on

March 31, 1953. It stated that "this house accepts as a

primary political objective the attainment of self-

government for Nigeria in 1957." This almost plunged the

country into crisis, it nearly led to secession by the

north whose main objection was based on its fear of

southern domination. This fear was well- stated by Ahmadu

Bello when he said that he "does not intend to accept the

2invitation to commit political suicide. The southern

representatives were frustrated by the north's response and

they made derogatory remarks regarding this attitude. Mr.

S. L. Akintola, an Action Group member at the time,

contrasting himself to northerners said , "I am not

appointed an Imperialist minister to do the will of

3

Imperialist agents in Nigeria. The northerners were

also said to be gutless. This made them very angry and

convinced that it was best to secede. But the idea was

later rejected when it was realized that they needed an

outlet to the sea. Instead, the Lyttleton Constitution of

Parliamentary Debates, March 31, 1953.

3Ibid., April 1, 1953.

66

1954 was adopted, giving each region greater autonomy. And

each region could have full internal self-government if it

so wished within the still dependent colonized federation

in 1956. With effect from October 1954, Nigeria became a

federation of three states, each within its own exclusive

powers, though the centre had certain extra powers that

covered the states or regions. Lagos was excised from the

western region and it became a federal territory governed

directly by the federal government. There were three

legislative lists: the exclusive list, concurrent list and

the residual list. The exclusive legislative list was

reserved for the central government and the residual for

the regional. The central and regional governments could

legislate on subjects which were on the concurrent list,

provided the federal law prevailed in the event of

conflict. Education, other than higher education, was a

residual subject, that is within the exclusive legislative

competence of the regions. Higher education was on the

4

concurrent legislative list.

CO. Taiwo, Nigerian Education System: Past,

Present and Future (Lagos, Nigeria: Thomas Nelson (Nig.),

1980), p. 121 .

67

In effect, the Nigerian education system became a federal

system consisting of three regional systems of education

and Lagos system of education.

With the rise of the three major political parties to

power in each of the three regions, intensive political

rivalry developed with each party trying to outdo the

others, in providing social amenities for its own area of

jurisdiction. The western and eastern regional governments

controlled by the Action Group and N.C.N.C. respectively,

placed highest priority on education.

In 1952, the western region's minister of education,

Honorable S. 0. Awokoya, presented the proposals for educa

tional policy of the region to be free universal and com

pulsory, otherwise known as Universal Primary Education

(U.P.E.). Along with UPE was the improvement of technical

and scientific education, so that Nigerian revenues will be

less dependent on the production and sale of raw materials

and agricultural products. It became necessary therefore

to train manpower needed to "man the machinery of state."

An examination of the documents clearly reflected economic

needs. Not one of the annual reports of the Ministry of

68

Education nor the white paper on the establishment of a

university in western Nigeria discusses anything on the

unification of the country. Neither did the western

Nigeria development plan for 1962-1968 (Ibadan, 1962)

exhibit any interest in national unity. Even the Banjo

Commission appointed in 1961 to review the educational

system of western Nigeria also excluded the question of

national integration.

It was not until 1964, when a motion was brought

before the House of Assembly by a member of the Nigerian Na

tional Democratic Party (N.N.D.P.) under Mr. S. L. Akintola

was anything said or done about unifying the country. The

motion required the introduction of Ibo, Hausa, and French

in all schools in the region, a choice of any two of these

three languages would be compulsory. The motion got sub

stantial support from both the N.N.D.P., the then party in

power and the opposition, the Action Group. Its support

was urged on the grounds of eradicating tribalism and pro

motion of national unity. When the motion was debated in

Alan Peshkin, "Education and National Integration in

Nigeria." Journal of Modern African Studies 5, 3 (1967)-323-34.

69

the house, damaging remarks were made regarding the motives

behind both sides supporting it. However, the minister of

education explained the difficulties in implementing such a

motion. He argued that the resources needed to introduce

the three languages such as instructional materials and

teachers were not available. French was already being

taught in some schools at the time. No attention was paid

to the development of history and geography or social

studies as being integrative subjects. Such subjects could

have helped in introducing the students to other ethnic

groups at least.

Like the western region, the northern region had in

operation its own ministry of education in 1952. The

region set a new syllabus for its primary schools which was

completed in 1956. The most nationalistic statement in

these syllabi was found under the course outline for

geography. The students were to learn about "goods from

other parts of Nigeria where and how they are produced or

grown, the life of the people who grow or make them,

leading the class to an appreciation of the main tribes

70

of Nigeria and how they live." Like the west, its main

concern was about training manpower to take over from the

expatriates and southerners in government and business.

The white paper on educational development in northern

Nigeria (1961) also addressed the problem of adequate

manpower. It dealt with the quantitative problems of

development, with no reference to political issues. In a

1963 report by Oldman, an English school administrator,

only a single statement acknowledged the need for unifying

different tribes and it was limited to the region. It

recommended that history should be Nigeria centered and

stressed the importance of using Hausa as a lingua- franca,

where books in other languages were not available. This

was to be achieved with the help of expatriate teachers,

supervisors, advisors and missionaries. This puts a cloud

on the commitment of the policy makers to achieving such an

integrating measure, since they depended on expatriates who

do not feel a sense of commitment to the program. The

north concentrated more on catching up with the southerners

Northern Ministry of Education, Geography and His

tory Syllabus (Kaduna, 1956), p. 10.

71

- east and west by spending more money on adult education

and building more schools, especially primary schools and

teacher training colleges.

Of the three regions, the eastern region's intention

to use schools for integrative purposes is significantly

different. This is evident from the documents made public

by its ministry of education. Its free education program

was initiated in 1954 by Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, its premier.

The scheme speculated that the local government would pay

45 percent while the regional government would pay 55

percent of the total cost. Schools were to be increased in

every district council and more teachers were to be

trained. Like the west, the east faced the problem of

having more school-age children than available revenue.

There was also the constant trouble of collecting the

education rating money through the local councils. The

failure of this procedure points to weaknesses in the local

government system which was made more apparent as the

Universal Primary Education was introduced. Among other

reasons for its failure beside inefficient system of

collection, was corruption by local council officials,

72

as James O'Connell noted in his article "The State of

Primary Education in Nigeria" (1945-1960).

Many councillors and members of their staff enjoyed

a poor reputation for integrity, and so people were unwil

ling to pay money for schemes controlled by local councils.

To overcome the drawbacks inherent at this stage in local

rating, the government introduced a new taxation system in

the East Regional Finance Act 1956 and local rating was

discontinued. Politicians rather unwisely justified the

increased regional taxes to the public by implying that the

new measures cover the cost of all social welfare

amenities. In actual fact as the Dike Commission Reports

points out, the amount of capitation tax of thirty

shillings, or under, was less than the total tax plus rate

hitherto paid. This resulted in inadequate buildings,

equipments, poor management and by 1958, many schools were

closed down and teachers laid off. An important setback

for the scheme was the hostility that existed between the

Hans Weiler, Education and Politics in Nigeria

(Freiburg, Germany: Verlag Rombach, 1964), p. 113.

8Ibid., p.121

73

missionaries and the regional government. The eastern

government resented the hold over education that the

voluntary agencies had and was bent on asserting the power

of the local authorities, in order to weaken this hold.

They refused to cooperate or assist the government in this

venture based on the recommendation that the schools be

secular in order to qualify for gbvernment grants. This,

they argued will defeat their purpose of evangelism and

inevitably lead to loss of faith in the church. The

proposal co raise fees triggered off immense discontent.

Dissatisfaction with the low standards of UPE schools,

dislike of the attempts made to discriminate against the

voluntary agencies, general uneasiness about methods of

government and the flamboyance and flaunting of newly

acquired wealth by the political elite, and, above all,

resentment against a rising level of taxation produced

9

demonstrations and riots in many parts of the region.

These difficulties led to a modification of the plans

by a committee chaired by Dr. R. K. Dike, Principal of

Ibadan University College in 1958. The committee was to

Ibid.

74

review the educational system in the eastern region. The

report, however, was not released until 1962 under a new

committee chairman, Dr. Alvan Ikoku. The report was unique

in intent and purpose for Nigeria. The following were pre

pared:

Any educational system - new or mature ... con

stantly faces the question of its role, its

appropriate sphere of action ... one way of get

ting at its function ... is first to describe ...

a model community .... A characteristic of a

desirable community is social stabilty and

continuing progress in handling complex inter

relationship among people. It is one which is

free from untoward social tensions, whether they

arise from political, economic, religious, racial

or ideological cause.

There was no statement to support this intent in the

latter section of the report, where the more practical

matter of the curricula in the primary and secondary

schools is discussed. But at a major conference held in

1964 to review the educational system, there were

indications of the desire to implement these and other

integrative ideas like the introduction of social studies

in seventh grade in primary schools. The content was to be

Eastern Ministry of Education, Report on the Review

of the Educational System in Eastern Nigeria (Enugu, 1962),

p. 23.

75

on how the country evolved into an independent and

industrial nation. The eighth grade was to pay particular

attention to the political history of Nigeria with emphasis

on the development of democracy. The objectives for

secondary schools was more explicit. It stated:

This is the level where we deal with adolescents

and the most fertile field for giving a nationa

listic slant to our teaching of such subjects as

history, civics, geography, art, music, cookery,

needlework and drama. The overall aim should be

to develop a love of our own background and cul

ture, a veneration of our elders and eminent men

and women, past and present and an appreciation of

what is best in our own way of life. This should

lead progressively to examination of peoples and

ways of other lands and an appreciation of th^

unity of mankind in this mosaic of diversity.

It is not perfectly clear from the context whether or not

"love for our own background and culture" refers to Nigeria

as a whole. However, the conference's recommendation for

the teaching of Nigerian geography, history, and civics

made clear the application of the overall aims referred to

above.

Eastern Ministry of Education, Report of the Con

ference on the Review of the Education System in Eastern

Nigeria (Enugu, 1964), pp. 16 and 21.

76

The status of Lagos under the MacPherson constitution

of 1951 changed in 1954. It became a federal capital of

Nigeria, controlled entirely by the federal government

which was why Lagos was left out of the western region's

UPE scheme when it was launched in 1955. The Lagos federal

territory started its own free education two years later in

1956, thus making free education a federal government

policy, though more emphasis was laid on higher education.

This was a scheme that was popular with both the federal

and regional governments. The scheme also included the

training of more teachers, increased technical and voca

tional education and the building of more schools in the

regions by the federal government. This enabled it to make

an impact on educational development in the country.

Towards the end of the decade, the east and western

regions had attained regional self-government in 1957, the

north attained its own in 1959, and target date for indepen

dence was realized on October 1, 1960. In anticipation of

the manpower needs of independent Nigeria, the federal

government set up the Ashby Commission in 1959 to "conduct

an investigation into Nigerian needs in the field of post-

77

school certificate and higher education over the next

,.12twenty years.

The Ashby report, which became effective in Septem

ber 1960, was directed essentially at education for

manpower needs and the same was applied to regional

education policies. But, the report acknowledged in one

instance, at least, the schools' role in promoting national

unity. It stated that "all universities should admit

without discrimination and on the criterion of merit alone,

1 3students from any region or tribe." This was the only

level that the federal government intervened since it

financed the universities. The federal government's

commitment to this policy of national integration was made

evident in the national development plan for 1962 to 1968.

Though the primary concern of the educational sector was

for future manpower needs, it made provision for other

problems other than economic.

E. Ashby and others, Investment in Educaton: The

Report of the Commission on Post school Certificate and

Higher Fducation in Nigeria, Lagos, Ministry of Education,

1960, p. 2.

Ibid., p. 6

78

For instance, the twenty-six projects listed under the

educational sector, were divided into four categories of

essential projects and priorities A, B and C. Part of the

essential projects in each region, in order to break down

the barriers of intertribal antagonists, was to cater for

570 students from different parts of the country, living

together under boarding conditions. A huge amount of

150,000 pounds of sterling (approximately 600,000 naira)

was also set aside to support citizenship and leadership

centres, which offered short-term courses to young civil

servants and students living outside their tribal origin.

Mainly, the centre addressed the need to "break down

barriers of fear and suspicion which reflect the inter

tribal antagonisms of the past; and ... to develop a strong

sense of social obligation in the midst of those fortunate

enough to rise to posts of authority and responsibility in

14the community.

In order to correct the imbalance in educational

development, the north was allotted 3.1 million

l4Alan Peshkin, "Education and National Integration in

Nigeria " Journal of Modern African Studies 5, 3 (1967):

323-34.

79

(approximately 12.4 million naira) for primary education.

Though this seems to be an integrative expenditure, it also

reflects the influence the north exercises over the federal

government. This advantage the north enjoys up till today,

has always been a source of controversy between it and

other parts of the country. And it is all as a result of

the 1950 constitutional conference which ironically was to

prevent any sort of discrimination that could cause

controvers i es.

As mentioned earlier, further decentralization of the

federation gave the region almost autonomous powers. This,

of course, made the political control by the federal

authority almost impossible. The Nigerian political

leaders realized that they could not control the center and

demanded therefore that as much power and revenue as

possible should be taken away from the center so as to

neutralize its authority without actually destroying it.

As a result, there was uncompromising determination on

their part to entrench themselves so firmly in their

respective regions to guarantee indefinite control of the

regional government. This not only ensured regional power,

80

but also federal parliamentary seats, especially where the

government and party is the same. The regional government

was usually able to manipulate the election machinery in

its favor, giving it majority support in every one of the

constituencies within its area of jurisdiction. It

exercised its power in such a way as to ensure its stay in

office indefinitely.

The regional governments assured their position by

using all available resources at the government's disposal,

including the power of patronage. The government had the

money, favors, jobs and prestige to distribute among those

1 5who would support it. Loyal party members were appointed

directors to public boards; for example, the board of

education, marketing board, scholarship boards and so on.

These positions are held or advanced as long as the member

is loyal to the party. For instance, licenses awarded by

the marketing boards, though they may be granted based on

commercial criteria, political considerations are not

always negligible. In a public speech, Dr. Azikwe said

15Richard Sklar, Nigerian Political Parties.

Princeton University Press, New Jersey. 1965. p.205

81

that the government "would be foolish to renew Mr.

Obioha's produce buying licenses in view of the fact that

he had joined the Mbadiwe conspiracy to overthrow the

16N.C.N.C. government unconstitutionally". The same kind

of corruption was revealed by the Coker Commission of

Inquiry into the finances of the Action Group in the

western region in 1962. It found that most of the

directors of the public boards were all supporters of the

party. The minister of education, the Honorable S. 0.

Awokoya, who planned and executed successfully the free

education program in the region was fired for openly

supporting the dissent views of Honorable S.L. Akintola, an

ex-Action Group party member in 1963. This patronage was

not limited to party members alone; those constituencies

that supported the opposition were denied social services

to which every tax-paying community was entitled. For the

urban and rural community, supporting the dominant party in

the regions meant more schools, more hospitals, more tarred

■reWest African Pilot, July 26, 1958.

82

roads, more maternity hospitals, bridges, water supply and

electricity. More so, school supervisors, teachers,

school principals and vice chancellors held their jobs

based on their allegiance to the party in power; party

patronage was that entrenched. As aptly described by Okoi

Arikpo:

Each regional government was more concerned with

standing on its constitutional rights and promot

ing its particular interests than with promoting

the overall interests of the nation. And the

country had developed no national symbol strong

enough to supercede existing regional loyalties.

This was the nature of politics in the nation which

got to its peak during the first republic in 1963, when the

situation got out of hand in the western region in parti

cular. The occasion was elections for the new republican

constitution of 1963 when the Nigerian National Democratic

party (N.N.D.P.), an offshoot of Action Group, was accused

of rigging the elections. The party was made up of dis

gruntled Yoruba members, N.C.N.C. and United People's Party

(a pro N.P.C. splinter of the Action Group) which came to

ITOkoi Arikpo, The Development of Modern Nigeria

(London: George Allen and Unwin, 1975) p.132.

18Ibid., p. 130.

83

power in January 1963 after the Action Group government

wasdismissed in May 1962. The N.N.D.P., led by Mr. S. L.

Akintola, had the view to unite all Yorubas and accomodate

the N.P.C. dominated federal government. Yoruba solidarity

and a fair share of the national cake for the Yoruba was

the N.N.D.P. slogans. But these, plus putting all the

blames of the region's political and economic misfortunes

of the Action Group, did not win the party the people's

support. As far as the masses were concerned, the N.N.D.P.

was the embodiment of insurrection against the established

leadership and just another N.P.C. satellite in the region.

The closer the N.N.D.P. became with N.P.C, the closer it

brought the N.C.N.C. and its arch rival the Action Group.

The federal elections of 1964 aggravated the situation and

the N.N.D.P. employed all government coercive machinery to

harass and intimidate its opponents and voters, and

manipulated the electoral machinery in its favor. This

started an array of accusations and counter accusations by

the contending candidates and the masses went on to

destructive rampage. Violence, riots and killings were all

over the region; the federal government had to declare a

state of emergency in the region. This led to the

84

imprisonment of the opposition members and the leader of

the action group. This violence and uprising among the

people was not limited to the western region alone, it was

widespread all over the country but nowhere in Nigerian

history was there so much abuse of power and manipulation

of electoral machinery as in the western region. This loss

of law and order in the regions, and the inability of the

federal government to arrest the situation was put to an

end in January 1966 when the military staged a coup d'etat

that ended the civilian rule until 1979.

CHAPTER FOUR

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The hypothesis of this paper stated that the Nigerian

elites, rather than use education as an instrument for

unifying the country, used it to foster their own self-

interest. As it has been shown in the previous chapters,

it is obvious that the Nigerian education system was never

meant to serve a unifying purpose, rather, it served at

different points in time the interests of those who built

it and those who later adopted it. In particular, the

missionaries who had absolute control over more than 60

percent of the nation's schools at their inception, never

inculcated into the students the essence of integrating the

various tribes of the country. In fact, nothing was

allowed to stand in the way of their evangelical mission.

By providing the three Rs, reading, writing, and arithmetic

to the natives, they aided the colonial government in

implementing its policies in terms of manpower needed to

facilitate its government apparatus.

85

86

The contents of the various subjects taught in these

schools reflect this claim. The curricula for subjects

like history, literature, social studies were based on

British society except for geography, which deals with

Nigeria, but much of it was on European geography.

Religion was always a major part of the students'

education; it was never compromised until recently when the

military government removed it as a compulsory subject in

high schools. For a long period, the missionaries provided

the subservient employees the colonial government needed

for smooth running of its administration, most of whom now

rule the country.

The positive effect of religious emphasis in educa

tion, especially in the southern part of the country, is

that it instigated the need for self-government or indepen

dence by preaching equality of all men. In fact, it re

sulted in Governor General Lugard's commitment to secular

education in the country. He was quoted to have said that

"education seems to have produced discontent, impatience of

any control and unjustifiable assumption of self importance

87

in the individual."1 This kind of attitude by British offi

cials, coupled with Nigerian elites who had studied abroad

and had been exposed to the then popular black conscious

ness ideology, prompted nationalist activities in the

country. They were able to conclude that the colonial

government was the enemy. They criticized the uneven dis

tribution of education in the north in particular, and agi

tated for establishment of higher education institutions in

the country and even sponsored some to study abroad. They

succeeded in driving out the colonialists, but they could

not decide who or what group of people will control the

country.

From the beginning, the way the various tribes were

balkanized together, it is obvious that it was only for

administrative convenience of the colonial government. It

was not because they believed the people could live to

gether in peace and unity. In fact, the colonial

government maintained superficial peace by policing the

colony. The government did whatever it took to stop the

Sir F. D. Lugard, Report on the Amalgamation of

Northern and Southern Nigeria and Administration 1912-1919,

Cmd 468 (H.M.S.O.), p. 60.

88

disruption of its commercial and economic interests; to the

colonial government it was very necessary to keep the north

and south separated by executing different laws in both

places. For instance, education in the north was largely

secular with little or no interference with the established

Islamic education. The government even encouraged and

helped build more Islamic schools. Most of the schools

were operated by British teachers and assistants who had no

commitment to the people they taught or the country. Even

when the question of unity was raised in education reviews

they helped to compile, there is little evidence to show it

was taken seriously or how it was to be taught in the

classroom. This was common to all educational reviews in

all the regions.

The political organizers or leaders themselves did

not make the situation any better. In their bid for autho

rity, they realized that their most secure base for support

would be the people of their own group. As Claude Ake well

observed that insecurity makes political actors struggle

even more grimly and tenaciously for political power and

the high premium on political power inclines political

89

actors to use any method which will produce desired results

rather than confine themselves to methods of competition

which are real or legal. In Nigeria, the political

leaders employed ethnic loyalties as a conscious instrument

in their politics. Mobilization of resources, both in

terms of ethnic loyalty and voluntary associations, took

more or less a regional character. In order to maintain

this position, the political leaders resorted to distortion

of facts; indeed as Balewa said, it is the politicians and

our newspapers who preach disunity for their own ends and

thereby fostering bitterness (Official Report, Vol. II,

Session 1957-58, 728-741). By agitating for a loose

federation, the opportunity for a cohesive education system

was destroyed. Ethnic loyalty provided the political

organizers with available resources for collective action,

and the system of government (House of Representatives ),

including the power of patronage, was largely

regionalized. This decentralization widened the gap

Claude Ake, Revolutionary Pressures in Africa (New

York: Zed Publishers, 1984), p. 44.

3N. Nkemdirin, Social Change and Political Violence(Elms Court, England: Arthur H. Stockwell, Ltd., 1975), p,

48.

90

between the north and south in terms of progress and

hindered the evolution of a Nigerian political culture.

This is in line with Alex Inkeles contention that "to leave

men in a condition of poverty so extreme that they are

outside politics, in effect non-citizens, is to create an

apathetic mass which is not integrated in society and

cannot be mobilized for the purposes of national growth and

development."4 The result is that everyone is busy

struggling for the crumbs from the national cake and

Nigerians came to believe that unless their own men are in

government, they will not be able to secure socio-economic

amenities. The further implication of this is that

development is retarded because under these conditions,

neither culture nor industry can flourish. And in that

case, makes the planning of a dynamic and progressive

education system almost an impossible task.

But since the military government came to power,

there has been major development in the allocation of educa

tional facilities. More schools are being built in rural

4Alex Inkeles "Participant Citizenship in SixDeveloping Countries, American Political Science Review 43

No. 4 (December 1969):1134.

91

areas. The north in particular is enjoying this change and

still gets a larger part of resources allocated. The

federal military government established curriculum develop

ment commission which works on improving the curriculum

passed down from the colonial era to suit Nigerian

situation, especially social studies.

One of the major problems to effecting a viable social

studies curriculum is implementation. Dr. Okobiah, in his

article, the " New National Policy on Education and the

Development of Social Studies Curriculum for Nigerian

Schools", argued that those affected by any program must

be involved from the inception through to development and

implementation. His studies showed that the teachers who

are the backbone of the program are the least involved.

They are inadequate in number, ignorant of the concepts

objectives and the methodological approaches of social

studies. It is not surprising to note that there are

serious oppositions by specialists in the traditional

subject areas like geography, economics, history and

5

Journal of the Curriculum Organisation of Nigeria

(Con.) Vol. II, No. 1 (February 1984):75.

92

government, who feel insecure and threatened by the

introduction of social studies in the schools. They do not

only need a retraining in social studies, but more also a

re-orientation to appreciate the need for social studies at

the primary and secondary schools instead of the separate

systematic disciplines for which they were trained.

However, there are books like History for West African

Students by A. Dahunsi and A. Adetoro published by Nigerian

authors. Works of literature like Things Fall Apart. No

Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe are expressive of the

political climate of the country and the elite dilemma.

Religious studies was eradicated as a compulsory subject

and schools, includinq missionary schools, became secular.

The quality of education has continued to drop since

the period of self-government to independence and

thereafter. The governments have often underestimated both

the qualitative and quantitative implications of Free

Universal Education. Most times, they are not able to meet

the financial commitment needed for quality teachers in

particular school buildings and educational materials.6

Ibid. p. 76

93

Teachers are often underpaid and command little respect in

the society. In short, the noble profession is yet to be

made attractive enough to get the best.

The focus of education in Nigeria since Ashby Com

mission is still manpower needs, but the irony is there are

more graduates than are jobs to absorb them. The question

of unity is yet to be adequately addressed. The philosophy

of education continues to be British-oriented, which is

elitist and acquisitive.

As Nnoli adequately observed that "the truth of the

matter is, as in many spheres of national life, Nigeria has

merely followed the footsteps of their erstwhile colonial

masters without fully appreciating the latters' motives

..."7. They need to fill their lack of historical

perspective to social phenomena, to understand why the

colonial government emphasized what was different among

than rather than what was common to them. If all goes

well, they might be able to increase production and direct

the education system towards productive aspects of social

life, rather than depend on the manipulation of

Okwudiba Nnoli, Ethnic Politics in Nigeria (Enugu,

Nigeria: Fourth Dimension Publishers, 1978), p. 121.

94

distribution of social amenities and benefits. Unless the

elites stop thinking of unity as the co-operation of the

bourgeoisie which can only be achieved by means of

constitutional arrangements, that allocate them areas of

exploitation, national unity will continue to elude the

country.

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